About the Author: Dr. Mathez is a curator in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He led the scientific team that developed the content for the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth which opened in 1999, and for those efforts received the 2002 American Geophysical Union Excellence in Geophyical Education Award. He was co-curator with Michael Oppenheimer (Princeton University) of the traveling exhibition on: Climate Change: The Threat to Life and a New Energy Future. As an outgrowth of that exhibit, Dr. Mathez authored the book Climate Change: The Science of Global Warming and our Energy Future, 2009, New York: Columbia University Press. Through his work at AMNH, Dr. Mathez has been involved with numerous outreach activities, including the Seminars on Science program designed for K-12 teachers, and has co-authored many articles in the popular press.

Webinar Overview: Risk associated with natural hazards is a topic of increasing concern in the public discourse. How can society best function given the uncertainty surrounding the frequency, magnitude, and potential impacts of natural hazards on society? How does the perception of risk associated with natural hazards inform personal choices and public policy? This webinar will provide an overview of the elements of uncertainty related to climate change. The perception of risk related to climate change provides a rich opportunity for students to develop critical thinking skills, to appropriately use Earth data and their representations (including uncertainties), and to interpret the open, dynamic, and complex interactions among the components of the Earth system.

Slovic, P., 2000, The Perception of Risk: Earthscan Publications, Ltd., 518ppThe concept of risk is an outgrowth of our society's great concern about coping with the dangers of modern life. In an excellent overview of the critical issues involved in risk perception, this volume examines issues such as: societal risk taking; decision making in mental health law; rating risks; facts versus fears; informing and educating the public about risk; perceived risks and the politics of nuclear waste; and perceived risk, trust and democracy.

Raffensberger, C., Tickner, J., eds. 1999, Protecting Public Health and the Environment: Implementing the Precautionary Principle, Washington, Island Press, 385pp. The precautionary principle challenges governments, industries, scientists, and citizens to act wisely and well. Fundamentally, as this important book demonstrates, this newly rediscovered old rule shifts the burden of proof to those who have long benefited from and exploited ignorance. Raffensperger and Tickner, who exemplify the tradition of engaged science, have assembled an impressive group of writers to produce a book that should influence the next stage of public health and environmental protection.

O'Brien, M., 2000, Making Better Environmental Decisions: An Alternative to Risk Assessment: MIT Press, 352pp.For the past quarter-century, government and the private sector have relied heavily on risk assessment for making decisions, allowing widespread environmental deterioration. In this book, Mary O'Brien recommends a simple yet profound shift to another decision-making technique: "alternatives assessment." Instead of asking how much of a hazardous activity is safe (which translates into how much damage the environment can tolerate), alternatives assessment asks how we can avoid or minimize damage while achieving society's goals. O'Brien not only makes a persuasive case for alternative assessment; she tells how to implement it. She also shows how this technique has profound implications for public health, for our stewardship of the environment, and for a truly democratic government.

News, Events, Workshops and Webinars from Teach the Earth

Learn More »

Is your department overhauling its curriculum? Have new faculty in your department? Is your department involved in strategic planning? Facing changing enrollment or striving to increase diversity? Want to increase the emphasis on teaching science in the context of societal issues?

InTeGrate & NAGT invite you to improve learning about the Earth in your courses, programs, & departments through our Traveling Workshops Program (TWP). Application deadlines are 1/31 and 3/15.

Teaching Landform Evolution with WILSIM-GCThe WILSIM project has developed a collection of teaching activities that explore the evolution of the Grand Canyon, and how the shape of the canyon is affected by a variety of physical factors, via the landscape simulation model WILSIM-GC. These activities range from step-by-step guided inquiry activities through open-ended exploration of the interactions of model parameters.

NAGT Events at AGU 2016NAGT is pleased to outline a variety of geoscience education sessions available at the Fall 2016 AGU Meeting in San Francisco next month. Stop by the NAGT booth (#308) for the most up-to-date information on upcoming workshops, educational resources, and teaching activities.

Provenance: Sean Fox, Carleton CollegeReuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Provenance: GSAReuse: If you wish to use this item outside this site in ways that exceed fair use (see http://fairuse.stanford.edu/) you must seek permission from its creator.

GSA supports On the Cutting Edge

The mission of The Geological Society of America is to advance geoscience research and discovery, service to society, stewardship of Earth, and the geosciences profession. We support geoscience education at every level. Join us at http://www.geosociety.org/

Provenance: NAGTReuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Value this site? Help us ensure its future.

The On the Cutting Edge website and workshop program are supported by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT). Join today and your membership will help ensure that this site can continue to serve geoscience educators. Join NAGT today

Provenance: NAGTReuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Your NAGT membership helps make this site
possible. Thank you!

The On the Cutting Edge website and workshop program are supported by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT). Your membership is helping to ensure that this site can continue to serve geoscience educators.

Page Text

Images

Provenance

Katryn Wiese, City College of San Francisco

Reuse

This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Provenance

Dave Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman

Reuse

This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Provenance

Dave Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman

Reuse

This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Provenance

Dave Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman

Reuse

This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.